Published at 11:08, Thursday, 10 May 2012

A FORMER soldier who burgled a young mum’s house while she and her child slept upstairs has been jailed for two years.

A judge at Carlisle Crown Court told Ian John Flinn that the case was made worse by the way he deliberately targeted the house, knowing that the only occupants were the woman and her child.

The court heard that the day before the burglary on March 23, Flinn had gone to Sandra Dixon’s house in Glen Moor Road, Egremont, so there was no doubt he knew who lived there.

Prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told the court the 26-year-old criminal had got into the house through an unlocked door just before midnight, when Ms Dixon and her child were asleep. He got away with a laptop computer and tub of coins from the living room without disturbing any of his victims.

He later turned up at the nearby Chatanooga takeaway, trying to sell the laptop for £100 to one of the staff.

Ms Dixon knew nothing of what had happened until she was woken by neighbour Tom McDonald who, after being disturbed by a barking dog, saw Flinn sneaking away from her house.

Flinn, of Royal Drive, Egremont, pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary – his latest offence in a long list of previous convictions.

In mitigation, defence barrister Mark Shepherd said Flinn had been emotionally disturbed by the death of his mother in November last year and had turned to drugs. He burgled Ms Dixon’s house while on valium.

Mr Shepherd said that Flinn had now given up drugs.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk